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More than 9000 Ergon Energy customers from Stanthorpe to Bundaberg had their power supply interrupted by fierce winds on Friday night and Saturday. Crews worked through Friday night and for most of Saturday, sometimes in appalling conditions, to restore power to almost all customers.

One of the worst affected areas was the Gin Gin hinterland, where six spans of high-voltage powerlines came down across the river about 3am on Saturday, interrupting the power supply to about 350 customers. Power has been restored to all apart from three pump stations and crews will return on Monday to complete the repairs.

Another challenge for crews was at Applethorpe, where a large pine tree came down on high-voltage powerlines on the New England Highway at 2.30am on Saturday, affecting about 1400 customers in the Stanthorpe region. Crews needed the assistance of additional machinery to remove the tree, so power could be restored before 1.30pm.

A further 1500 customers in the Stanthorpe region were affected by two other separate power supply interruptions on Saturday with a handful of customers not having their power restored until Sunday morning.

Other major power supply interruptions included:

• 1400 customers in Kearneys Spring and Middle Ridge for up to three hours from 4.10pm on Friday due to fallen powerlines.

• 1100 customers in Woodgate Beach and Buxton from 10.30pm on Friday until 12.45am on Saturday when powerlines came down on Coaches Road.

• 1200 customers on the southern outskirts of Bundaberg for 80 minutes from 5.35pm on Friday.

• 1750 customers in Scarness, Torquay, Urangan and Kawungan from 7.45pm on Friday up to 2am on Saturday due to damage to the network.

• 200 customers near Kingaroy from 10.05pm on Friday until 10.30am on Saturday because two poles came down in extremely wet locations.

• 150 customers in the Wondai region from 5.35am up to 1.50pm on Saturday due to a pole top fire near Charlestown in an area without immediate access for crews.

Several hundred customers across the vast area, including significant numbers in the Toowoomba and Maryborough areas, were affected by smaller outages to the high-voltage network or because their service lines came down.

Ergon Energy call centre operators reported that most customers had been understanding about the circumstances that led to the power supply interruptions and Ergon Energy thanks them for the patience while the damage was repaired.

In an unrelated incident, the power supply to about 120 customers in East and Central Toowoomba was interrupted from 11.30pm on Saturday until 1am on Sunday while crews repaired damaged to a pole struck in a motor vehicle accident.

submitted by

Ergon Energy Corporate Communications Manager Rod Rehbein  (07) 4122 5371

The Toowoomba Hospice’s exterior has just had a face lift due to the generosity of Luxury Paints, Rotary Toowoomba North, The Master Painters Association of Qld and their Toowoomba Branch.

Chairman Graham Barron said “The building is over 7 years old and we have just had the entire interior repainted so we thought it would be nice to freshen up the out side of the building, This is where our great friend of the Hospice, Graham Hoppe from Rotary Toowoomba North came in and arranged it.  Graham Hoppe approached a couple of the representatives from the Toowoomba branch of the Master Painters Association (MPA) to come and have a look to see what they could do to help”

Before you knew it the Hospice has had at least 12 members from the Toowoomba Branch of the MPA offering to paint with the help of 9 Rotary Toowoomba North members and Luxury Paints jumping on board donating the paint!

Mr Barron said he was amazed as to how efficiently and quickly it all happened especially on the day “They started about 6-ish, did 2 coats of paint and it was all done by 11.30am. They all chipped in and did a fantastic job. This just shows what a wonderful community Toowoomba is and how lucky the Hospice is to have the support from it”

The Toowoomba Hospice provides free palliative and respite care based on mutual respect, trust and individual needs. they are situated at 57b O’Quinn street and relies heavily on community support and donations.

The University of Southern Queensland through its Australian Centre for Sustainable Business and Development (ACSBD) will provide academic leadership to international efforts to develop a globally accepted framework for corporate reporting on climate change.

ACSBD Deputy Director Professor Julie Cotter has been invited to chair a high level technical panel assisting the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) based in London.

As Chairperson of the CDSB’s Regulatory Review Moderation Panel, Professor Cotter and USQ will play a leading role helping businesses plan and account for actions they take to deal with climate change.

Professor Cotter said the panel would create a forum for connecting parties and disciplines that might not traditionally connect.

The panel will be made up of professionals from a variety of backgrounds including corporate social responsibility professionals, lawyers, accountants, scientists and engineers,” Professor Cotter said.

We will work together to identify and evaluate the synergies and gaps between climate change reporting regulations from around the world by tracking and comparing them.

It will provide an opportunity for me to work with the other panel members to produce insights into the scope, scale and type of regulatory developments on greenhouse gas measuring and reporting rules and climate change risk reporting rules. Ultimately this will assist the global harmonisation of these disclosure requirements.”

Professor Cotter said she is most looking forward to working with a highly qualified and diverse team of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions experts from around the world and making a positive difference.

USQ pursues world-class research, innovation and practice in sustainable futures. Developments around climate change are global, requiring international co-operation and collaboration. This is an area where we excel. It is important for us to present both our research and distance education capabilities on the international stages, since our vision is recognised as a world leader in open and flexible higher education.”

Submitted by

Jo-Ann Sparrow / Corporate Communications Coordinator

University of Southern Queensland – Springfield campus

P: + 61 7 3470 4119

Due to the inclement weather and the chance of more rain, the Toowoomba Says No to Violence Street March & Family Fun Day in Queens Park that was to be held this Sunday 17th October has been postponed to a date to be advised.

TSN2V spokesman Peter Rookas said it was a very disappointing decision to make. Because the main emphasis is around family and having safe, wholesome fun in the park, the state of the grounds in Queens Park would not allow for the children’s rides & games to be set-up. It would also be very damp under foot. I know how much our Champions of TSN2V and families in the region were looking forward to this day, but Mother Nature always has the last say with outdoor events.”

Mr. Rookas said a decision regarding this years TSN2V Street March & Family Fun Day will be made very soon and full details will be made available to the public immediately to ensure as many people as possible can attend.

While the day can’t proceed, the message is still clear; the Toowoomba community will not tolerate violence. By saying that violence is not an option, Toowoomba can maintain its reputation as a desirable place to live. The goal of TSN2V is to create a safe, healthy and peaceful Toowoomba by working together to reduce violence because violence is preventable and not inevitable.

Peter Rookas, CEO Toowoomba Hospital Foundation

Ph. (07) 46166166

Fax. (07) 46166177

email: peter_rookas@health.qld.gov.au

Toowoomba Fire Station in Kitchener Street waas the venue for the local firefighters Rememberance Day service on Sunday 10th October .

Firefighters gathered at ceremonies throughout the State  to remember and pay tribute to all firefighters who have given their lives in the line of duty.

Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) South Western Region (SWR) Assistant Commissioner Tom Dawson stated that the service is an opportunity and occasion where members of the QFRS family, friends and the community at large could pay their respects to fallen firefighters”.

We commerate the courage and heroism of the 48 Queensland Firefighters who have given their lives to protect the lives and safety of others whilst serving their community since 1877” he said.

The role of firefighter is extremely broad and firefighters need to attain a high level of skills. When most people are fighting to get out of a burning building or escaping bush fires, the firefighter is fighting to get in and attack the fire” Assistant Commissioner Dawson said.

We all owe it to these people to never forget them, their contribution, their families and their workmates”  said Assistant Commissioner Tom Dawson.

Submitted by QFRS SWR Community Liaison Officer  Di Warr